...And so skipping forward 11 years to the Enslaved album that I have spent the most time with, this is also their album with the fewest metal elements in it. Don't get me wrong, it's still clearly a metal album, especially with tracks like 'New Dawn', but its progression is stunning.
This EP, which is available for free download direct from the band, is something of a surprise. Sure, it has Enslaved written all over it (they even steal their own riff from 'Kvasir Blod' in the opener), but one could call it more experimental than openly progressive, especially with electronic, droney tracks like 'Synthesis'.
So, with the three albums of theirs I've already posted, you can probably gather that I'm something of an Enslaved fan. This is the first album of theirs where progressive elements began to outweigh black metal elements, although BM is still very much present. It's a little harder to get into than much of their other output, but it is therefore more rewarding.
Enslaved's most recent album was not, for me, the best thing of 2010, but then again, it had to compete against Darkthrone, Fukpig and Triptykon, and it came damn close. It strikes a more metal-aligned balance than predecessor 'Vertebrae', and I think that was the way that they needed to go.
Now isn't this just a treat. Although I'm soon hoping to announce some new contributors, as soon as they've created accounts, this is a masterpiece of black metal, with plenty of folky and the beginnings of the progressive elements that would dominate Enslaved's later career.
